Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, the United States women’s national soccer team plays Canada in the SheBelieves Cup. The last time the two North American neighboring nations met in Columbus at the annual tournament was a classic in 2024. The 2-2 draw featured two goals from Sophia (Smith) Wilson. When Canada scored a late penalty kick in the 86th minute, the two sides went to penalty kicks that featured an early penalty kick made by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher who then walked up to the line and saved the next attempt on net.
The United States won 5-4 with a lineup that featured World Cup champions like Naeher, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn and Alex Morgan.
Look at the 2026 SheBelieves cup roster and those tried and true names in the history of the Stars and Stripes are mostly gone. Dunn and Naeher are retired from international play while Morgan is done playing for club and country. Wilson and fellow striker Mallory Swanson still play professionally, but still have not returned from maternity leave.
Head coach Emma Hayes invited what she sees is the next generation of the international squad to camp for matches against Argentina, Canada and Columbia. A name on that list is midfielder Emma Sears, a second-year NWSL pro who played club soccer, graduated high school, and competed in five years of college soccer in Central Ohio.
“I’ve been really looking forward to this, and for the past few months, knowing that Columbus was gonna be hosting one of the games, I was crossing my fingers and doing everything I could to have made this roster, and so to be here now, I’ve been joking all week that it’s something’s in the air here,” Sears told reporters.
Sears is home this week to play in front of her family and friends, with at least 30 in the stands from tickets secured by the 25-year-old’s mom. That does not include the friends in her messages. However, Sears’ addition to the squad is not a feel-good story or a charity homecoming paid for by Hayes and United States Soccer. Sears is the next mainstay for the four-time World Cup champions.
“I said this to her last week, I said, ‘If the World Cup was tomorrow, you’d be one of the first players coming from the bench, in my opinion, because you always make it count. You always make an impact,’’ Hayes told reporters.
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That is high praise from Hayes to a player who has not taken the normal trajectory to reach the position as an important piece of the United States national team. Players join the US Soccer system early, compete at the youth level and either turn that into a successful spell at a top university or go directly into the professional ranks.
There was no connection between Sears and the United States youth pipeline. Sears played club soccer with local Ohio Premier before she went to Ohio State University, which is not known for being a soccer powerhouse. There are notable alums from the women’s soccer program like Lindsey Agnew and Nichelle Prince, who both compete for Canada, but even in the Big Ten, the Penn State Nittany Lions overshadow the Buckeyes.
Even so, everywhere Sears goes, she separates herself from the pack. Sears is one of four players at Ohio State who had multiple three-goal games. At Racing Louisville, the midfielder started her career on the bench but earned a starting role halfway through her first season. Then there was her first cap for the Red, White and Blue.
On Oct. 27, 2024, in a tightly contested matchup against Iceland, Sears entered the 1-1 tied match in the 55th minute. In the 72nd minute, the Dublin, Ohio native picked up her first assist for the United States, and in typical Sears fashion, it was without hesitation. That says a lot in a young athlete’s first appearance for such a storied team.
Young United States star Alyssa Thompson sent a pass from the left side of the penalty area to Wilson, who mishit the shot and reacted immediately to her mistake. The errant shot landed at Sears, who one-touched a pass to striker Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo for the match-winning goal.
Sears did not wait too long for her first goal when she again confidently one-touched the ball, but this time into the net to put away the 3-1 victory.
In game one of the SheBelieves Cup, Sears was again at the forefront when the attacking midfielder ran towards the near post, drew in the Argentina defense and passed back to captain Linsdey Heaps, who curled the ball into the top left corner. Not a bad move from someone who was not been in the care of the United States system until the fall of 2024.
“That’s always just with my time since starting with the national team, it’s kind of always been a little bit of topic of conversation that my path wasn’t exactly linear growing up in the youth system,” Sears told reporters. “But honestly, I’ve just kind of leaned into that, and I think that I take a lot of pride in the growth that I’ve experienced with this team.”
Fellow Ohioan and United States midfielder Rose Lavelle had that more traditional rise through the country’s youth system, and nine years into her time with the senior squad, Lavelle has a Gold Medal and World Cup championship to her name.
Sears’ attacking midfield play is like Lavelle’s in that it’s aggressive and moves the ball forward. The difference is the size Sears brings to the United States attack. At 5-foot-9, tall for a soccer midfielder, Sears combines the offensive focus with strength and now, nearing 20 appearances for the United States, Sears defensive positioning and decision making in the press shows fast growth and a hard-to-see ceiling.
“It’s been so exciting to see [Sears’] growth in the league, and then in this environment, I think she’s just getting better with each camp, with each new experience, and has been really impactful,” Lavelle told reporters. Every time she’s on the field, like contributing to goals. So I think it’s been really exciting.”
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At the end of this camp, when club soccer begins again in the NWSL, players from this SheBelieves Cup roster will go back to competing for a spot on the United States national team long-term. Some will go to the U20 World Cup for the United States this year in Poland, and some may not rejoin the roster for a while with the return of Swanson and Wilson. With Sears’ play on the field and her upward trajectory, there is less of a question.
“Emma is someone who is not going away,” Hayes said. “That’s the bottom line. She’s not going away. She makes absolutely everything count, and she’s extremely effective. She has worked so hard on herself to become a student at the game.”